Global Employment Law

Consultation on Resolving Workplace Disputes Launched

The UK's Coalition Government has launched a major consultation on reforming employment tribunals and the resolution of workplace disputes. The stated aims of the proposed measures are:

achieving more early resolution of disputes;

ensuring that the employment tribunal process is as swift, user friendly and effective as possible; and

helping business feel more confident about hiring people.

The document includes two highly controversial proposals that the Government has previously trailed: an increase in the qualification period for claiming unfair dismissal from one to two years (see our previous article on the background to this); and the introduction of a fee for lodging an employment tribunal claim. With regard to the latter, employers' organisations in the UK have been lobbying hard for a fee of up to £500 to discourage weak and spurious applications.

The consultation document refers to introducing "fee-charging mechanisms" for lodging claims (and counter-claims) in employment tribunals, but also potentially for parties in claims that proceed to a full hearing. The Government says it will consult on this separately in the spring, once the options have been developed more fully.

The Government has also published its so-called Employer's Charter (pdf) - a short, rather anodyne document reminding employers of certain 'rights' they have - e.g., to contact a woman on maternity leave and ask when she plans to return; to ask an employee to take a pay cut; to dismiss for poor performance.

Other proposals set out in the consultation document include:

Exploring how greater use can be made of alternative dispute resolution tools such as mediation.

Requiring all claims to be submitted to the Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service (ACAS) in the first instance, rather than the Tribunals Service, and allowing ACAS a specified period (up to one month) to offer pre-claim conciliation.

More flexible powers for employment tribunals to strike out weak and vexatious claims.

A process for allowing offers of settlement to be 'paid in' to the employment tribunal if they are rejected, with the prospect of a costs order if the tribunal subsequently makes a lower award.

Withdrawing the payment of expenses in employment tribunal hearings, to encourage parties to settle earlier and to think more carefully about the number of witnesses they call.

Extending the jurisdictions where employment tribunal judges can sit alone (without lay members) to include unfair dismissal; and removing the general requirement for tripartite panels in the Employment Appeal Tribunal.